B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s plans to increase revenue in the tourism sector by 5% each year until 2016, when tourists are projected to spend $18 billion in the province.
Key prongs of the five-year strategy include:
- making it a priority to attract tourists from countries with large emerging middle classes, such as China and India, while maintaining strength in traditional markets (Ontario, Washington, California, U.K., Germany, Australia and Japan);
- providing more marketing products in areas that most motivate people to choose B.C. (touring vacations, city experiences, skiing and snowboarding, aboriginal tourism and outdoor adventures); and
- implementing stable and predictable funding and working with the Tourism Industry Association of B.C. to develop marketing.
Organizations such as the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce praised the plan.
“This new five-year plan will bring new money to the tourism sector and be a driver of job growth around the province,” British Columbia chamber president and CEO John Winter said in a release.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom